Caracterización de la cirugía de catarata en pacientes con retinopatía diabética

objective: to identify existing complications in patients suffering diabetic retinopathy during or after extracapsular lens extraction with intraocular lens implantation surgery performed at "saturnino lora" and "juan bruno zayas” hospitals in santiago de cuba, from january to september 2007. methods: a prospective, longitudinal, observational and descriptive, study was conducted in 72 patients. the analyzed variables were age, sex, indication for cataract surgery, visual acuity before and after surgery, and complications. the percentage as a summary measure and the chi-square tests and comparison of proportions hypotheses were used, according to each table. results: predominance of females, 70 years or older age and visual indication of cataract surgery. postoperative visual acuity was above 20/40 in 47.2% of patients and posterior capsule opacification was the most common complication. conclusion: the optical indication is the most common for cataract surgery in patients with diabetic retinopathy as well as the assessment of visual acuity before and after surgery in these patients with cataract surgery criterion is a diagnostic and prognostic parameter. posterior capsule opacity was the most frequent complication.